Friday, June 10, 2011

A little shopping for the casually dressed Duchess of Cambridge... before her dazzling transformation for gala dinner

By Rebecca English and Richard Simpson

Dressed down: A casual trip to the shops on London's King's Road for Kate - before her dazzling transformation as she arrived at the 10th annual Ark (Absolute Return for Kids) Gala Dinner at Kensington Palace that evening

With her glossy hair, megawatt smile and £4,000 sequinned dress, she had all eyes on her.

But just hours before dazzling at her first official evening engagement on Thursday, the Duchess of Cambridge could have been any young woman shopping on London’s King’s Road.

Her long, dark hair was scraped back into an unremarkable low bun, with the only hint of glamour coming from the sapphire engagement ring that once belonged to Princess Diana.

Accompanied by two plainclothes Scotland Yard police protection officers, Kate, 29, popped into the Peter Jones department store in Sloane Square, where she spent almost an hour browsing fashion accessories before picking up a few bits and bobs.

She also visited Boots, where she bought a couple of facial moisturisers from the low-cost Nivea range.

But while passers-by failed to realise they had the Duchess in their midst, one or two excited shop assistants did a double-take when they spotted her.

Star attraction: William and Kate didn't disappoint on their first official public engagement as a married couple

Another police officer waited nearby in a royalty and diplomatic protection squad Range Rover. Parked on a double yellow line, he drove around the block whenever he saw a traffic warden.

Kate eventually made her way to the car and was driven to the Clarence House apartment that she and William are sharing with Prince Harry until they move into Kensington Palace next month.

No more than four hours later, as a transformed Kate stepped out of a Jaguar at the Ark tenth anniversary gala, there was no chance of her going unnoticed.

In her shimmering rose Jenny Packham gown, she reduced millionaires and celebrities to behaving like excited children as they crowded around her eagerly taking pictures on their camera phones.

The event raised £17.2million for the Ark charity, which helps disadvantaged children in the UK and around the world.

But there had been fears that William and Kate’s decision to support the £10,000-a-head event, largely made up of City rich kids, high-flying bankers and property developers, could be seen as crass in the current economic situation.

No expense had been spared inside the double-decker marquee, which took six weeks to build in the grounds of Kensington Palace.

The Duchess failed to display even a hint of nerves as she worked the room, posing for photographs with model Saffron Aldridge and greeting Prince Charles’s divorce solicitor, Fiona Shackleton, with a warm hug and a kiss.